7 Things that Never Happened
by Nemainofthewater
Summary: The title says it all. Seven different AUs of how things might have been.


Author : Nemainofthewater

Title : 7 Things that Never Happened

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize, it all belongs to Disney.

I

_Veronica is playing around with both Balthazar and Hovath, so that they both mistakenly believe that she loves them. However, she is actually in league with Morgana._

The trio laughed together. They had been on a quest to find the Prime Merlinian ever since their Master, Merlin, had been killed by Morgana. Together, they had scoured the world looking for this special child, and so far they hadn't found him or her. But they would eventually.

They had settled in New York in the '20s, as they reasoned that they couldn't possibly search the world for every single child. It would be fate and coincidence linked that would bring the Prime Merlinian to them.

But now, at this time in this place, their greatest worry was what to name the shop that they had bought together.

"The Silver Dragon," said Balthazar.

"No, that sounds too much like a Chinese restaurant." replied Veronica.

"What about the Three Apprentices?" asked Horvath.

"Too literal." Said Balthazar. "I certainly wouldn't want to shop anywhere called the Three Apprentices!"

"The Arcana Cabana," said Veronica softly, both of the men quieting so she could be heard.

"Well I like it." Said Balthazar immediately.

"That's just because you want to get on Veronica's good side." Said Horvath.

"Boys!" cried Veronica before they could start arguing. Or more importantly conjuring up plasma bolts.

"I'm going to relieve myself," said Veronica, before standing up and walking off. Horvath stood up as well and followed her.

Outside of the toilets, she stopped and faced him.

"What's the matter?" Horvath asked her, "I can tell that there's something troubling you."

Veronica's face collapsed, and she started crying.

"Maxin," she sobbed, "I'm afraid that Balthazar, that he…"

"What is it? What's the matter with Balthazar?"

"He keeps following me! He says that he loves me, but dearest Maxim, you have to believe me, I only love you!"

Horvath was shocked. He never thought that his oldest friend would do something like that.

"Veronica, is it possible…?" he began.

"I know, I'm probably just being silly," sniffled Veronica, "But I think he's being corrupted. We never found out how our Master was killed, and, oh Maxim; I think that Balthazar did it! I think that he's in league with Morgana!"

"I need to think." Horvath said sharply, standing and walking briskly away.

Veronica smiled, then quickly put her mask back on for Balthazar, who was even now walking towards her from a different direction.

"Veronica?" Balthazar asked, seeing her tearstained face, "What's wrong?"

"Maxim," she gasped out, "Maxim tried to convert me to Morgana's side! He threatened me! Oh Balthazar…"

"Maxim wouldn't do that! You probably just misunderstood something he said."

"But think Balthazar, my love, we never did find out who killed Master. Only one of us could have got past the wards…"

Balthazar's face shut off, and went to rejoin Horvath.

Veronica smiled. The two were no longer laughing, but eyeing each other warily. In a few weeks the Lady Morgana wouldn't have to lift a finger, the two imbeciles would rip each other apart.

II

_There was very little space in the urn. Balthazar are locked in the magical equivalent of a closet and made to talk. For ten years._

Day One

"So," said Balthazar, "Horvath. It's been a while."

Horvath ignored him, and continued reading the nine year old David's essay on Napoleon.

Balthazar gave up.

Day Ten

Horvath had produced a red pen from somewhere, and was furiously scribbling things on David's essay. In very small handwriting. In fact, there was more red than blue on that paper.

Balthazar was going through all the spells that he could remember, mentally as magic didn't work inside the urn. It was going to be a long ten years.

Week five

Balthazar had finished all his spells. There was no sleep in the urn as they would stay in the same state as they had been when they had entered it. For them, this meant ten years of extremely uncomfortable burns.

The red pen had run out, and there was nothing for Horvath to do but glare at Balthazar. Intensely. For two weeks. Interesting fact, when stuck in an urn, you don't need to blink.

Finally Balthazar turned his back to Horvath, barely managing in the small cramped space, and rolled a pen to him. He couldn't take much more of this.

Week fifteen

"I'm sorry I ruined us," said Balthazar.

Week twenty

"I'm sorry too." Said Horvath.

Week thirty-seven

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU BETRAYED US! BECAUSE OF YOU, VERONICA IS TRAPPED IN THE GRIMHOLD WITH MORGANA!"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU COURTED VERONICA WHEN YOU KNEW THAT I LOVED HER! YOU DIDN'T CARE ABOUT ANYONE BUT YOURSELF!"

Year two

"Do you remember when we dyed Master's robes pink?" asked Horvath dreamily, "We couldn't sit for a month."

"It was worth it though." Replied Balthazar.

Year three

"I found the Prime Merlinian." Balthazar said.

"I already know that." Replied Horvath.

"Do you want to help me train him? The way I see it, is that Morgana set us both up."

"Are you going to constantly repeat things that I already know?"

"We have seven years to plan," continued Balthazar undaunted, " and we are going to make the most of those seven."

Ten years later to the day

Dave noticed something on the fridge. It was an old essay of his that he thought he'd lost, in fact he'd had to redo it.

"Nice of you to finally turn up, Prime Merlinian," said a voice behind him. David turned around slowly. There were two figures in his house and there had certainly been none when he'd left!

"Hello Dave. Ready to start training?"

III

_Becky is a Morganian and captures Dave._

Rebecca Barnes, Sorceress of the 586th degree was very proud of herself. She had successfully captured the Prime Merlinian out from under the famed Balthazar Blake's nose and she had him tied up next to her right now.

David groaned, and Becky fingered the ring on her middle finger. A silver dragon stared up at her, not so much as twitching.

Show time.

"Dave?" she hissed urgently to him, "Dave, quick get up! She's going to kill you!"

Dave sprang to his feet, and then he noticed that his ring was gone.

"Becky? Who is she, where is she, where's my ring!"

"I think you know Dave," said Becky. Her voice had totally changed from a scared girl, into almost a purr of satisfaction.

"Becky? What's going on?" asked Dave slowly.

"What's going on is that I've managed to do what no Morganian has ever done. Kill the Prime Merlinian."

And with that she launched a plasma bolt at him.

Dave could do nothing but stare at the death that was approaching him. What he needed was a miracle.

IV

_Balthazar isn't able to extract Morgana from Veronica._

Balthazar knelt besides Veronica, frantically channeling Morgana's spirit into his. He had studied this spell for so long, but for some reason, some cruel trick of the universe, it wasn't working.

Suddenly, Veronica stood up, dislodging him from his perch.

"You think that the one you love can still be saved?" she asked in a voice unlike her own, "How cute."

And with those words, she threw him backwards with a burst of kinetic energy.

"Foolish, foolish boy. You think that you could defeat me? The Lady Morgana, slayer of the mighty Merlin himself? Hah! But I will give you a chance. Look at your lady love how she waits for you," she continued, her tone softening and taking a beguiling quality, "Join me and I will give you her back. Once I grow strong enough for a body of my own I will leave her and you may take her with you. Two immortals, together for eternity."

Balthazar shut his eyes as if in pain. Should he save the woman he loved, whose name had kept the fire in his heart alive throughout the long, cold centuries, who he was so to right now? Or should he betray her, strike her down to save the world?

"Balthazar? Balthazar, what are you doing?"

His apprentice's voice, calling him. What should he do? What should he do? In the end there was really only one choice. He opened his eyes and nodded at Morgana, throat clenching at what he was about to do. Her face split into a smile of satisfaction, and she came closer to him, raising her fingers in benediction.

With the strength of a man who had nothing left but one task, Balthazar summoned the Grimhold and his heart, his Veronica, was once again pulled inside it with the essence of Morgana. He tossed the Grimhold th David.

"Destroy it!" he shouted to him, and then turned away and closed his eyes. There was a powerful blast of magic behind him, but Balthazar didn't open his eyes. He didn't care. He was already dead.

V

_Dave experiments with a timetravel spell, and discovers a paradox._

A timetravel spell. There was actually a timetravel spell?

David looked harder at his Encantus. He only wanted to go back a few hours; after all he didn't want to mess up the universe by changing an important event in history. He glanced over to where his Master was sitting, talking to Veronica. He probably wouldn't notice if an atomic bomb was dropped on him.

Grinning, Dave quickly used a spell to change his hair and eyes. The day that he'd learnt this spell had been the best in his life. Becky and he had had so much fun with it…

Finally he took his ring out of his pocket and put it carefully onto the table. He didn't want to lose it. The last time he had done that, he had been treated to a five hour lecture from Balthazar, punctuated by numerous plasma bolts.

Taking a deep breath he launched into the spell. It seemed to be working perfectly, right up until the point he lost control of his magic. While powerful, Dave didn't have a lot of experience, and he hadn't bothered to practice this spell in the training circle as he didn't want to tip Balthazar off to what he was doing.

The ride to the past was bumpy, uncomfortable and short. It was like the worst rollercoaster ride times 100, compacted into the space of a few seconds. When it ended, Dave was deposited headfirst into the path of a galloping horse. The last thought he had before the world want dark was 'Balthazar's going to kill me.'

The most powerful sorcerer in Britain, member and trusted advisor of King Arthur's court, Merlin, slid off his horse to inspect the young man who had mysteriously appeared in front of him.

"Balthazar," moaned the boy, "No more plasma bolts."

Merlin arched an eyebrow at this statement. Who was this person? Never mind, there would be plenty of time to get to the bottom of this later. He bent down to pick up the unconscious boy, and fixed him to his saddle. Until he was well again he would look after him.

Two months later, word had come to King Arthur's court that Merlin had taken a third apprentice. As he had two others, this was not unusual; what was different about this apprentice was his enormas untapped potential, not to mention his complete amnesia and strange clothes. Yes, the newly christened Balthazar Blake was one to watch out for.

VI

_Drake Stone is a sorcerer. Fact. He was left by his Master when he was fifteen. Fact. He's a Morganina. Fact. But just who was his Master? And was he really a Morganian? _

The small British boy looked to be about seven years old. He was filthy, painfully thin, and had just tried to steal Balthazar's sandwich.

"What's this now?" asked Balthazar, looking at the pitiful sight. The boy ducked his head the minute he spoke, as if expecting a sharp slap.

Balthazar sighed, and looked longingly at the remains of his sandwich, before handing it over to the boy, who demolished it so fast that Balthazar checked to see if he had used magic to make it disappear.

"Now that's over," he said, "can you tell me what your name is?"

"Course I can," said the boy, "I'm Drake Stone." Upon saying his name, he puffed his chest up to an incredible size, considering how malnourished he was, and beamed proudly.

"Well Drake," said Balthazar, suppressing a smirk, after all he didn't want to offend the boy, "Would you look at this for me?"

And out of his pocket he took Merlin's ring.

Drake extended his hand carefully, as if he couldn't believe that someone was actually trusting with something obviously this important. The dragon's tail shifted slightly, and the eyes seemed to flick up to look at Drake, but other than that it stayed an inanimate object.

"Well, never mind, that's more than it's done for most people." Said Balthazar," Now, would you mind showing me a good sandwich shop?"

Eight years later

Drake Stone's life had been radically changed since his chance encounter with the strange man in the park. Now he was Balthazar's apprentice, and he had a home, food, and most importantly somebody who loved him. He hadn't had anyone apart from Balthazar who had done that, and he often found himself forgetting that he had ever lived any other life.

Sure they moved around a lot to find this Prime Merlinian kid, but that was fine. He wasn't that social. And sure he'd had to move to the States, but England hadn't been doing anything for him anyway. The most important thing, he thought was that he had his Master, who had given him his Encantus, and his ring (even going as far as to let him choose it himself) and had shown him that he was special.

But deep down in his heart, he knew that his Master was going to leave him one day. All the people who he had loved had left him, and it was only a matter of time until he found a better model, maybe even the Prime Merlinian, and left. But he hoped that day never came.

And as he pushed into the Arcana Cabana, to see traces of a magical battle, and no sign of his Master, he was afraid that that day had already come.

VII

_Three Immortals sit at the end of the world._

The end was nigh. The sun expanded and began to roast the planet. It was the over. The planet was deserted, save for three people.

They were standing on what used to be the Chrysler Building; millennia of corrosion and the rising waters had reduced it to a small hillock.

There were two men, rather strangely dressed, and a woman with dark hair. They were lying on their backs, and didn't seem to have sunburned skin, or even be that tanned.

"Did you ever think that we'd be here? The last survivors of humankind?" asked Veronica idly.

One of the men snorted.

"No." said Balthazar bluntly, "I didn't. To be honest, I thought that I was going to die a few months after Merlin was killed."

"A few months before? Ha! I always thought I would be at the end of the world, only it was meant to be much more spectacular. Morganinans everywhere with a lot of crying and fire. Definitely fire. And I wanted to be the one to bring it about, of course." Said Horvath.

"Honestly." Said Balthazar, and threw a plasma bolt towards him. Horvath stopped it without looking.

"You're getting predictable in your old age," he said lazily.

"You're older than I am!" Balthazar retorted.

"But I look so much better."

"Come now boys, stop fighting. Or at least take it somewhere else; I for one want a dry place to sit."

The two boys grumbled, but stopped. Veronica had the most creative ideas for revenge. And since none of them could die, it meant that most things were fair play.

They were as close as they had once been, these Apprentices of Merlin. It was hard not to be when everyone else around them died, until eventually there was no one left. Needless to say, Merlin's curse had not been broken after Morgana had died. And since Merlin had been the most powerful and experienced sorcerer ever, that meant that there had been nobody powerful enough to lift it.

David had certainly tried, but he hadn't been able to succeed as he didn't know which spell had been used.

So here they were, the only representatives of their race to witness the destruction of the Earth. They were hoping that this would finally end their existence as they really weren't looking forwards to living in vacuum. Unfortunately, once the humans had seen the end of the world was imminent, they had boarded their rockets and set off to the far ends of the universe, to where humanity had finally found livable planets. However that meant that even if the three didn't die, they weren't likely to be picked up anytime soon from space.

"Look!" said Veronica, pointing skywards.

The sky had split, and the sun seemed to be expanding, the world becoming hotter and hotter, znd the waters around them starting to boil.

"Well then, see you on the other side," said Horvath.

"One way or another." Said Veronica.

"We'd better die, because I won't be able to stand myself if I remember all this mushy stuff." Said Balthazar, giving Horvath a manly hug, and then Veronica a decidedly longer one.

"To the next life!"

And then the world exploded.


End file.
